Speaking in Moscow, on the occasion of the Greek-Russian"Go Interntional"
forum, organised by Eurobank in cooperation with the country's exports
agencies under the auspices of the Foreign ministry, Kourkoulas said
Greek exports doubled in 2012 compared with 2004 and said he expected
this positive trend to continue in 2013.

"Exports, tourism and privatization will have a significant contribution
to the rescue of our econo-my," he said.

Kourkoulas said it was now clear that a growth model of the past decades
has bankrupt and noted that a turn of the Greek economy towards exports
was leading the economy out of the crisis.

He said that the number of requests made by Greek enterprises seeking to
expand activities abroad has risen significantly and added that both the
interna-tional political and business climate towards Greece has turned
positive over the last few months.

Kourkoulas said that economic and commercial relations between Greece
and Russia do not reflect the excellent political relations between
the two countries and trade relations have significant room of further
upgrading. He said he will discuss this issue with Russian Deputy Foreign
Affairs Minister Alexey Meshkov in a meeting later on Tuesday.

"Russia has been upgraded in 10th from 12th place in terms of Greek
exports and in 2016 I believe it will be in the top-five," Kourkoulas
said after meetings with Meshkov and Sokolov on Tuesday, according to an
ANA-MNA dispatch from Moscow. The focus of the talks with Meshkov was
on issues pertaining to EU-Russia cooperation and potential contribution
by Greece in promoting this dialogue, especially during the Greek EU
Presidency in the first half of 2014.

According to a Russian Foreign Ministry announce-ment, the two ministers
also discussed the prospects of Greek-Russian relations, with emphasis
on cooperation in the investment sector and a favorable framework for
entrepreneurs, particularly in the fields of tourism and energy.

Russian businesses are highly interested in striking deals with Greek
exporters to promote their products in the Russian market, as it was
established during a two-day "Go Interna-tional" business mission held
in Moscow. The event was organized by Greece's Eurobank in cooperation
with the country's exports agencies, under the auspices of the Foreign
ministry.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas stressed at a form held on
Tuesday in the framework of the event that

Greece's old and failed growth model that was based on domestic demand
coming from borrowing was being replaced by a new one which is based on
export activity, deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas stressed
at a forum held on Tuesday.

"Greek exports in 2010-2012 increased as a percentage of GDP from
7.6 percent to 14.3 percent. In absolute figures, the country's total
exports rose from 13.2 billion euros in 2004 to 27.6 billion euros in
2012," Kourkoulas said. He added that there are positive prospects for a
continuation of such upbeat course, based on data collected by diplomatic
missions' economic and commercial affairs offices.

Greece's efforts on the economy are beginning to bear fruit as
demonstrated by the country's upgrade by the international rating firms -
which also upgraded Greek banks, Kourkoulas noted. This, he said, was
recognition that the right policy is being followed and this will have
a further positive repercussion in terms of exports.

Russia looks upon the Greek market as a portal to a wider market of 65
million people, Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said in his
address to the forum. He expressed satisfaction over the upsurge, as he
termed it, in relations in the sector of tourism and thanked the Greek
side for the efforts to facilitate visa procedures to Russian tourists
wishing to travel to Greece.

The Russian minister said that more than 150 mixed Greek-Russian
businesses were active in Russia with a total turnover of 2.5 billion
euros and 20,000 employees.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met on Tuesday with senior officials of the
two leading companies in the world that are active in the cruise sector.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Vice President John Fox and Carnival Corporation
Senior Vice President Giora Israel did not conceal their admiration for
Greece's course and the prime minister's ideas, press reports said.

John Fox and Giora Israel are participating in the 2nd Posidonia Sea
Tourism Forum taking place in Athens on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A rift in the coalition partners over a controversial bill against
racism grew on Tuesday as PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos agreed with
Democratic Left (DIM.AR) leader Fotis Kouvelis to jointly promote an
antiracism bill, based on the one originally introduced by Justice
Minister Antonis Roupakiotis.

The junior coalition members decided on the action late yesterday after
a meeting among the three ruling partners, including majority party New
Democracy, on Monday failed to reach agreement as the government took
a clear stance against the bill.

As government sources said of Monday's meeting, "The government does
not intend to table the draft bill on antiracism in parliament," while
a date for a new meeting on this issue was not set. The government's
argument is that the bill is unnecessary and its provisions covered by
existing regulation, while the two parties insist that it is necessary.

The draft law was reviewed by the state legal review committee, which
ruled certain of its articles "unconstitutional".

PASOK leader Venizelos

PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, a junior partner in the coalition
government, on Tuesday said that this was not the first time there was
disagreement between the three political party leaders in the coalition
government referring to the anti-racism bill. He added that in the past,
any disagreements were overcome through mutual compromise, noting that
he was surprised with the way New Democracy (ND) handled the issue.

Speaking on public-run NET television, he noted that the anti-racism bill
shows that the government needs hard work to operate and that often even
the self-evident needs to be explained. The government is going through
a crisis, he said.

Venizelos repeated that he will table an anti-racism draft bill and
expressed certainty that it will be voted by the Democratic Left (DIM.AR),
a junior partner in the coalition government, main opposition Radical Left
Coalition (SYRIZA-EKM) and possibly by other parties of the opposition.

The PASOK leader attributed the ND stance as regards the anti-racism bill
to its "desire to be in contact with an audience that moves somewhere
between ND and ultra-right Chryssi Avgi (GD) or between ND and the
Independent Greeks (AN.EL) party".

Referring to the government, he said that it implements the policy
of PASOK which was condemned by ND and DIM.AR when they were in an
"anti-memorandum phase".

DIM.AR

The Executive Committee of the Democratic Left (DIM.AR), a junior partner
in the coalition government, on Tuesday discussed the party's next moves
in the context of new circumstances created after confirmation that the
political party leaders had disagreed on the anti-racism draft bill.

DIM.AR leader Fotis Kouvelis briefed party cadres on the political party
leaders' meeting at Maximos Mansion government headquarters and referred
to the New Democracy (ND) objections, the largest of the three parties
in the coalition government, to the anti-racism draft bill raised by
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

In case efforts fail to reach an agreement and table the anti-racism
draft bill in parliament, DIM.AR will undertake to promote the justice
ministry-sponsored anti-racism draft bill or agree on a common draft
bill with PASOK, also a junior partner in the coalition government.

The DIM.AR party cadres rejected scenarios that question the government's
cohesion.

The main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) party on Tuesday
accused New Democracy, the leading party of the government coalition,
of "blatantly flirting with the agenda and platform of the extreme-right
Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avghi) and shutting its eyes to the rise of racist
violence, while PASOK and the Democratic Left (DIM.AR), the junior
coalition members, despite their disagreements, have no plans to threaten
the government's cohesion."

Reacting to the tripartite meeting of the coalition leaders on Monday to
discuss the antiracism bill, SYRIZA said that the government's "burial"
of the bill "shows its internal conflicts, although these will not
jeopardise the memorandum-based agreement of the three parties."

SYRIZA also criticised PASOK and DIM.AR, saying that both parties are
facing their strategic impasses and cannot differentiate themselves in
fundamental ways from the core of the memorandum-based policy, which
threatens democracy and its values overall.

The fuss around the antiracism bill is rife with "ulterior motives"
and "fabricated tension, through intense disagree-ments", according to
Independent Greeks (AN.EL) leader Panos Kammenos on Tuesday.

In statements to ANA-MPA, Kammenos said "the fuss is meant to deflect
people's attention from the economy's problems at a time when a large
group of Deutsche Bank officials is visiting Athens, recapitalisation
is in progress and everything indicates that new measures will have to
be taken."

Kammenos did not comment on the antiracism bill itself, as party spokesman
Notis Marias had done so earlier by noting that "instead of trying to
find solution to loosen Greece from the grip of the memorandum, the
three fellow-travellers of the government pretend they are focused on
the antiracism bill, proving that their goal is not to deal with racism
effectively but to change the communications agenda topics away from
society's urgent problems."

Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos participated in the EU's
Foreign Affairs Council held in Brussels on Monday night.

The Council's discussions focused on the Syrian crisis. Extensive talks
took place on the issue of restrictions in the procurement of weapons,
as well as prospects for the scheduling of a political procedure to solve
the crisis, in the light of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry-Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov initiative on convening a new International
Conference for Syria.

According to a ministry announcement issued on Tuesday, Avramopoulos,
after underlining Greece's steadfast position that the solution to the
crisis in Syria can come through a political and diplomatic process,
said that for Greece it is of special importance that a unified EU
stance is adopted regarding the arms embargo. In this framework, he
supported the amendment of the existing status of sanctions, on terms
and preconditions, in favour of the moderate Syrian opposition, after
the outcome of the International Conference for Syria is taken into
consideration, and with the necessary security valves so that weapons
do not fall into the hands of extremists. He expressed his concern over
the possibility of the conflict spreading to neighbouring countries and
stressed that Greece actively supports the initiative of the US and the
Russian Federation for convening an International Conference.

Avramopoulos stressed in his contacts the special interest of the Greek
people in the Christian populations living in Syria and expressed his
strong concern over the abduction of the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of
Aleppo Pavlos and the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan Grigorios, providing
a briefing in parallel on Greek actions and initiatives for their release.

Lastly, in the framework of his contacts in Brussels, the Foreign minister
held a separate meeting with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued an announcement on Tuesday,
commenting on the EU Foreign Ministers Conference meeting on Syria.

"The decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers, that paves the way
officially for the supplying with weapons of the so-called rebels of Syria
by the EU's member-states, constitutes an escalation of the imperialist
attack against the Syrian people," the announcement said.

KKE added that "this decision upgrades the multiform military, economic
and diplomatic support that the EU, NATO together with Turkey, Qatar
and Saudi Arabia are giving to the so-called

Syrian opposition and is paving the way for an open military
intervention".

KKE denounced the Greek government's stance, which, according to the
KKE "voted for the specific decision, confirming its involvement in the
imperialist plans against the people of Syria".

Parliament President Evangelos Meimarakis who is paying an official visit
to Canada, met on Monday with the his Canadian counterpart Andrew Sheer,
with Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
Jason Kenney as well as with parliament secretary to the minister of
International Trade Gerald Keddy.

The meetings focused on the bilateral relations, investments in Greece
and on the further enhancement of the two countries' relations.

Meimarakis said that the Greek government is determined to overcome the
bureaucratic hurdles and to create an investment-friendly environment
underlining that the positive climate is supported by the political
stability which improves the country's credibility in the discussions
with its partners and with the investors.

"Everybody speaks of Ancient Greece, but we the Modern Greeks have the
ambition that they will say the same of Modern Greece too" said Meimarakis

On his part, Canadian parliament secretary to the minister of
International Trade Gerald Keddy expressed his satisfaction that Greece
will overcome it problems and underlined the Canadian companies' interest
to invest in Greece.

Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason
Kenney referred to Greece's progress noting that Canada is an ally in
Greece's effort and underlined the Greek community's contribution which,
as he said, had worked hard and has succeeded a lot. He also mentioned
the Youth Mobility Agreement between the two countries which will give
the opportunity to young people from Greece to move to Canada.

Concluding, Canadian parliament president noted that Greece and Canada
can cooperate and further enhance their relations and made a special
reference to the recent celebrations on the occasion of the 70-year
anniversary of Canada-Greece's diplomatic relations.

"Greece is going through a very important period and we must inform
everyone on its huge effort to succeed, in its effort to stand again
on its feet and to prove that it has created a investing-friendly
environment that can attract investments which will lead to growth and
that will reduce the unemployment" said parliament president Evangelos
Meimarakis in a statement to public TV ERT, after the conclusion of the
first day of his visit to Canada and to the city of Ottawa.

Meimarakis noted that his visit to Canada aims to inform all the local
entities that have an influence to the social, political and economic
life of Canada in order to proceed with investments in Greece within of
course, the legal framework existing in the country which will eventually,
create new job positions.

Luxembourg Prime Minister and former Eurogroup president Jean-Claude
Juncker will pay a two-day working visit to Athens on June 10-11, it
was announced on Tuesday.

The visit will take place at the invitation of Greek Prime Minister
Antonis Samaras.

[12] Public Order minister announces plan to ban small protest rallies

The government is planning to introduce legislation to ban small protest
rallies of under 200 participants to prevent disruptions of social and
economic life in cities, Public Order and Citizen Protection minister
Nikos Dendias said on Tuesday following the end of a meeting with the
board of the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE).

According to the minister, the measure will apply for cities of over
100.000 in population and will be in place all year round, not just
during the tourist season.

Dendias added, "that it is in the interest of protestors", since small
demonstrations in urban cities cause resentment by the majority of
citizens.

During the meeting, GSEE expressed opposition to the planned legislation
saying "it restricts social and political rights," with president Yannis
Panagopoulos making it clear that GSEE and public servants union ADEDY
are responsible only for large demonstrations. He attributed the large
number of small protest demonstrations to the policies pursued.

Commenting on the proposed ban, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) said
"it opens the way for prohibition of the right to protest."

It added that in reality the government did not care about workers and
small shops, but instead wanted to remain "faithful to the interests of
business groups and major investors requiring cheap labour."

All ministries and state agencies must review personnel files and make
sure that the skills claimed by each state employee are backed up by
documentation, according to a circular sent out Tuesday by Administration
Reform Minister Antonis Manitakis.

The process it said is part of the government's effort to evaluate the
structure of the public sector and its staff. Any document affecting
each employee's pay level - such as university degrees, family status,
language or other skills' certificates - must be verified and included
in the personnel file.

In addition, the minister requires directors to verify all language
certifications directly with the issuing centres - such as the British
Council, the Hellenic American Union and the French Institute - that
employees claim they got them from.

New Democracy (ND) leads by 1.8 percent over main opposition SYRIZA,
according to an opinion poll conducted by GPO for private television
"Mega".

According to the poll results, ND was leading with 21.3 percent, followed
by SYRIZA with 19.5 percent, ultra-right Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avghi) with
10.1 percent, PASOK with 6.7 percent, Independent Greeks with 6.4 percent,
the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) with 5.8 percent and Democratic Left
(DIMAR) with 5.1 percent and ANTARSYA with 1.8 percent.

In response to who would be most suitable for prime minister, current
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (and ND leader) was preferred by 46.3
percent of the respondents, followed by SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras
with 29.3percent, while 25 percent said neither of the two.

The geographic coverage of the opinion poll was nationwide and was
conducted between 24 and 25 May 2013.

The Second Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum opened on Tuesday at the Athens
Concert Hall (Megaron), focusing this year on Greece as a preferred East
Mediterranean cruise hub.

In his opening speech at the two-day forum, Shipping and the Aegean
Minister Costis Moussouroulis said that Greece wanted to develop cruise
ship tourism in 30 of its 57 basic ports, but this required a policy that
did not load all responsibility onto the port of Piraeus alone, better
management of ports and faster adaptation to technological advances in
terms of ship size.

Greece has aligned itself to international safety standards, it applies
the system of predetermined date and servicing of ships and has simplified
the processes to provide supportive projects at the ports, Moussouroulis
said. Museums and archaeological sites will be open from 8:00 a.m. to
8:00 p.m., while a fast-response group of Culture Ministry and local
officials will be able to intervene where necessary.

In addition, the ministries of Culture, Development and Tourism are
jointly trying to help improve the image of tourism enterprises on the
islands - either by external improvements on buildings or by the use of
new technologies. The 80-million-euro programme provides loans from 10,000
to 30,000 euros, with a long-term repayment period, while for investments
on islands with fewer than 3,000 residents the interest rate will be zero.

Referring to the new act on recreational vessels, the minister spoke
of a single institutional framework to benefit many more stakeholders,
of eliminating discrimination based on vessel chartering criteria, which
in the past has been arbitrary, of flexible chartering procedures and
of change to the criterion of professionalism.

"Marine tourism is an activity in the global market which has shown
resistance to the international crisis and demonstrates excellent
prospects," the minister said.

Giora Israel, Carival Corporation senior vice president said the Greek
government had the will to do a lot of things and bring them to completion
in spite of the tough economic conditions. "We are your partners,"
he said emphatically.

Israel said two years ago, Greece encountered a critical period, noting
that Carnival wanted to support the country's efforts. However, there
are still many issues to be resolved, he said, but "good days lie ahead".

Carnival has nine cruise ship subsidiaries, and its vessels making
1,090 port calls in the Adriatic and Ionian seas, transporting some 2.8
million passengers.

Addressing the forum, Royal Caribbean Cruises vice president John Fox
said the cruise sector's economic growth in Greece is directly linked
to port facilities, safety concerns and political stability.

Specifically, he said that Greece only gets 600 million dollars of
the 15 billion dollars generated in Europe by the cruise industry,
stressing that the country lagged in homeporting growth as only 16 pct
of passengers visiting Greece on cruise ships do actually get off board
and spend money in the local market - half of that of Spain and France's.

The lifting of cabotage was a positive step in the right direction,
Fox said, but added that Greece, in order to capture the economic
benefits of the cruise industry, should as soon as possible modernise
port infrastructure through assignments and partnerships. On this,
he said, the government is going in the right direction.

Royal Caribbean has 41 ships of a total capacity of 100,000 passengers.

The European Commission is taking account of the unemployment situation
in each member state ahead of a summit meeting in June whose agenda will
be topped by the issue, it said on Tuesday.

In a memo, the Commission said that following the redesign of EU-funded
programmes at the end of 2012, the EU adopted a national action plan in
January of this year that it funded with 517 million euros. The programme
hopes to add jobs for and train 350,000 young people in business skills.

Authorities in Greece, which registered 59.1 pct in unemployment of young
people, authorities said the initiative has begun with a 47-billion-euro
funding to provide short-term jobs to people up to 35 years of age in
culture-related programmes and to support social structures that fight
poverty and social isolation.

The Commission said it was also in final stages of preparation for two
programmes, worth a total of 146 million euros, that will go into effect
in June. The first will provide training and a five-month work contract
at businesses for 45,000 unemployed youths up to 29 years of age, and
the other will provide training to 1,000 young unemployed people up to 29.

According to EU statistics, in March 2013, 5.7 million young persons were
unemployed in the EU-27, of whom 3.6 million were in the euro area. The
youth unemployment rate was 23.5% in the EU-27 and 24% in the euro area,
relatively stable over the month, but up by respectively 0.9 percentage
points and 1.5 percentage points compared to March 2012.

In March 2013, the lowest rates were observed in Germany and Austria
(both 7.6%), The Netherlands (10.5%), and the highest in Greece (59.1%
in January 2013), Spain (55.9%), Italy (38.4%) and Portugal (38.3%).

[18] Head of task force to Greece reviews progress at European Parliament
session

BRUSSELS (ANA-MPA/M. Spinthourakis)

Conditions are ripe for an agreement that could restart all large-scale
roadworks projects in Greece, provided Parliament approves it, Horst
Reichenbach, head of the European Commision task force for Greece,
said in Brussels on Tuesday.

At the session of the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee
that met to review the implementation of financial assistance from the
EU budget in Greece, Reichenbach reviewed the successful outcome of the
task force proposals on out-of-court settlement of differences and on
the founding of a general secretariat to coordinate the government's work.

The task force will remain in Greece for another two years, he said,
but the success of its mission depends on the government's will to
promote infrastructural changes in the economy. He said that although
the government had completed important tasks, the Greek banking sector
will face problems for a long time and said that infrastructural funds
can contribute to the liquidity issue.

Former minister Stefanos Manos, who attended the hearing, said that the
main problem in Greece is lack of a political will to initiate drastic
changes in the public sector and restrict it and to combat tax evasion,
and called on Reichenbach to pay attention to small projects as well.

At the hearing, a European Commission representative said that Greece had
absorbed 56 pct of the structural funds alloted, above the EU average,
while a spokesperson of the Bruegel think-tank, based in Brussels,
criticised the Commission over its faulty programme for the Greek economy.

Positive messages for the recovery of the Greek tourism were received
at the International Exhibition of Congress Tourism IMEX 2013 in
Frankfurt. The Greek National Tourism Organisation (NGTO) participated
with its own pavilion in the exhibition and hosted 26 representatives
of the sector, congress centers, entrepreneurs and hotels.

EOT presented, to approximately 150 buyers that visited the 275 sq.m
pavilion, Greece's advantages while the chief of NGTO office in Germany
Panagiotis Skordas had a series of meetings aiming to intensify the
efforts towards the promotion of congress tourism in Greece.

According to the organisers, 9,000 professionals visited the exhibition
and the individual business meetings between exhibitors and visitors
increased by 33 percent.

[20] Annual Monetary Policy report to be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday

The annual report on Monetary Policy will be tabled in Parliament on
Wednesday by Bank of Greece governor George Provopoulos.

The Bank of Greece, according to reports, forecasts that the economy's
recession will range this year close to -4.5 percent of GDP. It also
forecasts a recovery from 2014 and a decrease in unemployment as of
2015. The central bank governor stresses in the report that the situation
has started to change for the better and the country is on a good path
for building a strong and competitive banking system.

As regards the economy's growth prospects, the central banker assesses
that recession will reach around -4.5 percent this year, a prediction
that also incorporates the negative repercussion from Cyprus that is
estimated between -0.3 and -0.4 percent.

Thirty eight Greek export companies will promote the official branding of
the Greek food and beverages "Taste like Greece" with their participation
in the International exhibition "Summer Fancy Food Show 2013" that will
be held in New York from 30 June to 2 July.

The big unemployment problem in Greece dominated in a meeting on Tuesday
between a visiting International Labour Organisation (ILO) delegation and
the board members of Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen &
Merchants (GSEVEE) and National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE).

"The extraordinary unemployment rate in Greece can be reduced only through
a national strategy for economic growth and by supporting SMEs," it was
noted in the meeting hosted at the ESEE offices in preparation of the
ILO conference in Athens on June 25-26.

The main issues under discussion will be SME job positions, programmes
in support of jobless households, combating uninsured labour, linking
education and vocational training with employment, social economy and
social dialogue in Greece.

Greek pension funds will not participate in a round of share capital
increase plans of Greek systemic banks.

The Labor ministry, in a letter sent to the managements of Greek pension
funds last Friday, said that according to the latest memorandum signed
with the EC-ECB-IMF troika, central government agencies have no right
to participate in banks' share capital increase schemes.

Following this development, the boards of IKA -Greece's largest pension
fund- and of the Self-Employed Single Fund annulled earlier decisions
and proceed with the sale of their rights to Alpha Bank, while they are
expected to do so with National Bank.

Meanwhile, GSEE -Greece's largest trade union umbrella- and OTOE -bank
workers union- in a letter sent to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
protested against the decision which blocked their participation in
Greek banks' recapitalization process.

A 38 pct of Greek employers are finding it difficult to cover their job
position needs, a survey by ManpowerGroup said on Tuesday.

The annual survey, conducted on a sample of 751 employers from all
sector of the economy, showed that for the fifth consecutive year,
Greek employers are having big difficulties in covering job positions
such as professional salesmen, high-ranking officials and technicians.

ManpowerGroup said more than one in two Greek employers (54 pct) said
that vacant job positions were having a moderate to high impact on their
company's ability to respond to the needs of its customers. This rate
was significantly higher (20 percentage points) compared with last year.

The most significant finding of the survey is the effect of a lack of
talent in business operations, Dr. Venetia Kousia, managing director
of ManpowerGroup said, commenting on the survey. She added that
"supplementary, regarding company strategy the problem demands a change
of thinking which will come only through the systematic cooperation of
all interested parties: the state, enterprises, education community,
human resources experts and workers themselves".

An Intralot annual general shareholders' meeting on Tuesday approved
a board plan to pay a 0.001967 euros per share net dividend to
shareholders. The company, in a statement, said that its shares will be
traded ex-dividend in the Athens Stock Exchange from Thursday, 30 May.

Fourlis SA Holdings on Tuesday reported lower after tax and minorities
losses to 4.9 million euros in the first quarter of 2013, from a loss
of 5.2 million euros in the same period last year.

The group said consolidated sales totaled 85.1 million euros in the
January-March period, down 6.1 pct from 2012, while consolidated pre-tax
losses rose slightly to 6.3 million euros from 6.2 million euros last
year, while EBITDA fell to 688,000 euros in 2013 from 868,000 in 2012.

Fourlis said that although it was still early to reach any safe
conclusions over market trends this year, the effects of an economic
recession on the IKEA branch and on its Intersport chain has stabilize
to a fully manageable level and were not expected to significantly affect
its annual turnover.

E.I.Papadopoulos, a Greek food industry, on Tuesday reported a small
increase in sales and pre-tax profits, but a decline in net profits last
year. The company, the biggest biscuit industry in the country which has
recently expanded in the bakery market, said its sales totaled 121.01
million euros in 2012, from 118.49 million euros in 2011, an increase
of 2.1 pct.

Gross profit margin fell by 1.2 percentage point to 49.1 pct in 2012
from 50.3 pct in 2011, with gross earnings falling by 0.3 pct to 59.44
million euros, EBITDA falling by 3.1 pct to 14.73 million euros and EBIT
falling by 2.6 pct to 11.64 million euros.

Pre-tax profits rose 1.9 pct to 12.53 million euros in 2012 from 12.30
million in 2011 and 13.08 million euros in 2010. Net profits, however,
fell 14.8 pct to 8.31 million euros hit by a heavier tax burden.

The business, founded in 1922, operates four production units in Athens,
Inofyta, Thessaloniki and Volos. At the end of 2012 its workforce was
973 workers, up from 949 in 2011. Its market share in the biscuits market
was 62.5 pct and in the toast market 32 pct.

I. Papadopoulos, chief executive of the company, speaking to ANA-MPA
said the company will continue growing based on its own forces in the
bakery business and noted it was not interested in participating in
mergers and acquisitions seemingly underway in the market.

Terna Energy on Tuesday said its consolidated sales totaled 35 million
euros in the first quarter of 2013, from 26 million euros in the same
period last year, an increase of 34.3 pct. The company attributed this
positive development to higher revenues form energy activities after
the company increased its power capacity in Greece and abroad.

Energy revenues jumped 51.9 pct to 28.4 million euros in the January-March
period period, up from 18.7 million euros last year.

Sales of the construction sector, however, fell 10.3 pct to 6.6 million
euros in the three-month period.

EBITDA jumped 57.2 pct to 20.6 million euros, while EBIT rose 59 pct to
13.3 million euros in the first quarter of 2013. Pre-tax profits rose
36.2 pct to 7.8 million euros, while net after minorities earnings grew
37.4 pct to 5.6 million euros.

Group investments totaled 9.7 million euros in the first quarter of 2013,
while cash flow grew to 20.5 million euros from 13.1 million euros in
the same period last year.

Ukraine International Airlines is establishing a direct air link between
Greece and Ukraine with flights on the Athens-Kiev and Thessaloniki-Kiev
route.

The flights that have already begun from Athens (Eleftherios Venizelos
airport) to Kiev (Boryspil Internataional Airport) will be carried out
four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday), while another
flight will be added as of June 18.

Moreover, the linking between Thessaloniki and Kiev, twice a week
(Tuesday and Friday), will begin from May 31, 2013.

Greek stocks ended lower in the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday, unable
to hold on to their early strong gains as lack of follow-through buying
left share prices vulnerable to selling pressure. The composite index
of the market eased 0.10 pct to end at 1,037.83 points, after rising
as much as 2.01 pct during the day. Turnover eased further to 53.658
million euros.

Greek stocks bonds have been at the focus of investment activity in the
past two months, with turnover in the domestic electronic secondary bond
market soaring to 318 million euros so far in May, after rising to 69
million euros in April. These figures, however, still lag far behind
the volumes recorded almost 10 years ago or even before the country
agreed to a bailout with the troika. The value of transactions reached
its peak in September 2004 with a monthly turnover of 136 billion euros,
only to fall to zero in October 2011.

Turnover in the market was 24 million euros on Tuesday, of which 17
million euros were buy orders and the remaining 7.0 million euros were
sell orders. The yield spread between the 10-year Greek and German
benchmark bonds eased to 7.25 pct from 7.47 pct on Monday, with the
Greek bond yielding 8.73 pct and the German Bund yielding 1.48 pct.

In interbank markets, interest rates were largely unchanged. The 12-month
rate was 0.47 pct, the nine-month rate was 0.38 pct, the six-month rate
was 0.29 pct, the three-month rate was 0.20 pct and the one-month rate
was 0.11 pct.

The June contract on the FTSE Large Cap index was trading at a premium of
0.35 pct in the Athens Derivatives Exchange on Tuesday, with turnover at
23.898 million euros. Volume on the Big Cap index totaled 11,238 contracts
worth 20.239 million euros, with 38,187 open positions in the market.

The regional governor said in his contacts with the three ambassadors
that Crete is open to investments and is a safe destination and called
for their cooperation to enable the message-invitation to pass to their
countries.

He further said that Crete possesses infrastructures to host tourists,
is open to religious tourism, is in a position to provide its excellent
certified farm products everywhere and has internationally recognised
scientific-research centres.

The three ambassadors said they are willing to offer their cooperation and
referred to the possibilities and opportunities provided by the island,
underlining Crete's advantages as well.

Parliament Secretary General Athanassios Papaioannou on Tuesday expressed
Parliament's support of a UNICEF fundraiser for programmes to inoculate
children in vulnerable social groups against life-threatening diseases.

According to a Parliament announcement, Papaioannou made a personal
appeal on the phone during a telethon hosted by public ERT radio.

He said that "every Greek's contribution to these telethons is effective
and goes to a good cause" and said that executive, judicial and social
power must join to help out at a time when collaboration is necessary
to resolve large and serious social problems.

[36] Young girl seriously injured in brutal assault to be airlifted to
the United States for treatment

The teenage girl, that was brutally assaulted last July by a 21-year-old
illegal migrant from Pakistan, while she was on vacation on the Aegean
island of Paros with her family, will be taken to a rehabilitation
centre in the United States. The girl is currently treated in Athens'
Evangelismos Hospital.

Following an order by Health Minister Andreas Lykourentzos, National
Organisation for Health Care (EOPYY) President Lefteris Papageorgopoulos
approved the funds needed for the treatment of the young girl abroad
and preparations are underway to be airlifted to the United States.

Mirto, who was 15 at the time of the attack, was sexually assaulted and
was found seriously injured on July 23 at a beach on the popular island
of Paros, one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean.

The girl, her mother and her sister were staying at the home of friends
for a brief vacation, and after an afternoon swim at the Chryssi Akti
beach the mother lost sight of the girl and searched her out, eventually
finding the teen unconscious and injured behind an outcropping of
rocks. The girl bore several wounds to the head and face, while the
lower part of her bathing suit was missing. Subsequent tests confirmed
that she had been raped.

The girl was initially taken to the Paros Health Centre but due to
the gravity of her injuries was transferred by helicopter to an Athens
hospital where she underwent surgery for serious head injuries.

A 21-year-old Pakistani national illegally residing in Greece, who was
illegally employed at a Paros hotel, confessed to the sexual assault
and brutal attack of the girl. He was positively identified as the
perpetrator through DNA testing.

Two men, a Bulgarian, 32, and an Iranian, 18, were arrested on migrant
smuggling charges, Thessaloniki police announced on Tuesday.

Eleven illegal migrants from Syria and Afghanistan were found hidden in
a transporter van driven by one of the suspects. The arrests were made
near "Analipsi" toll post facilities on Egnatia Odos national motorway
in the region of Langadas on Monday evening.

The destination of the illegal migrants were northern European countries
and according to police, the fees charged by the smugglers for their
transport amounted to 38,000 US dollars in total.

An investigation is underway for the arrest of other members of the
migrant smuggling ring.

Cloudy weather and northerly winds are forecast in most parts of the
country on Wednesday. Winds 3-7 beaufort. Temperatures between 10C and
30C. Slightly cloudy in Athens with northerly 3-5 beaufort winds and
temperatures between 16C and 29C. Local showers in Thessaloniki with
temperatures between 15C and 29C.